ICE.NFS Trouble Shooting Guide

ICE.NFS is a stand-alone product which provides transparent access for Windows 95 PCs to files on UNIX servers that support the industry-standard Network File System (NFS) interface.

ICE.NFS is compatible with all standard NFS implementations on a wide range of operating systems, including Sun Solaris, SCO UNIX, IBM AIX , and SCO UnixWare.

PC Requirements

• A standard Windows 95 operating system.
• Microsoft s TCP/IP must be installed and fully configured.
• At least 8 megabytes of RAM and at least 2 megabytes of free disk space.
• A high performance network card can greatly improve the performance of ICE.NFS.
• If the system has problems with large read write buffer sizes, a value of 1K is recommended to avoid fragmentation.

UNIX Requirements

• An authentication server (PCNFSD) must be running to allow PC workstations to use ICE.NFS.
• DNS (domain name service). The DNS should be installed and configured on both the UNIX server and workstations. If DNS is not running, an alternative is a static DNS setup (properly configured hosts and files).
• For more information about configuring DNS consult your system administrator and Windows 95 documentation.

PCNFSD is Not Installed

This program needs to be installed. ICE.NFS will not work without it. PCNFSD is a UNIX daemon that controls user authentication. Without it, no user will be given the correct access. PCNFSD can usually be obtained from the website of the UNIX type you are using. For instance, SCO users should look at http://www.sco.com. Alternatively you can do a search on the web for "PCNFSD." If you do not have internet access, contact your UNIX reseller.

DNS is Not Installed

DNS (Domain Name Service) associates an IP address with a name of a computer. Some sort of DNS setup needs to be installed for ICE.NFS to work properly. Their are two (2) types of DNS setup, a dynamic DNS which uses the UNIX server, or a static DNS which is setup on the PC.

Setting up a dynamic DNS on the Windows PC is simple. Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel-> Network. Highlight TCP/IP and click on properties. Click on the "DNS configuration" tab. Click on "Enable DNS." In the Host box type in the name of your PC (i.e. "tom's computer"), in the domain type in the network domain (i.e. "jriver.com"). In the "Domain Server search order" enter the IP address of your DNS server then click add. Click on "ok" until it asks to reboot your computer. Proceed with rebooting the computer.

Setting up a dynamic DNS on the UNIX machine is a UNIX issue, and needs to be addressed by your UNIX administrator. If you do not know how to setup DNS on the UNIX machine you need to contact the UNIX company (i.e. Sco, Hp, IBM, etc).

Setting up a static DNS, called LMHOSTS, involves the modifications of some files on the PC. Please consult the lmhosts text file from our Technical Support Library.

Unable to Connect to Host Using the ICE.NFS Hostname Wizard

Typically this error occurs when a DNS is not installed.

Connection Established to the NFS server, but Can't Read or Write

If you are logging in as root, you should be aware that root is generally denied access for security reasons.

• Make sure that PCNFSD is installed and running.
• Check that you have not misspelled your login name or password, and that you are using a valid username/password.
• check with you system administrator to ensure you have correct permissions to read and write.

Unable to Log into the Server -- An "Access Denied" Message Appears After Entering Login Name and Password

Most likely you have no authentication daemon (PCNFSD) running on the UNIX server. Consult your system administrator. An authentication daemon must be running to use ICE.NFS. If you have no PCNFSD on your UNIX server you still can log in into server with ICE.NFS as user nobody, but that is not recommended as your permissions will be greatly restricted.

Some Users Continue to Receive the Message "Access Denied" When Trying to Mount a Network Drive, Even Though PCNFSD is Up and Running and Permissions are Correctly Defined

Most likely the users UID is less than 100. PCNFSD considers UIDs under 100 as system UIDs and will not allow this user to mount a drive. It s possible to override this setting by inserting the following command into /etc/pcnfsd.conf file:

uidrange=1-65535

Unable to Access Some Files Residing on the Server

When working with remote files, don't forget about permissions. You can access only files to which you have permission. Every file residing on a UNIX server has an owner, a group it belongs to, and permission flags that determine access rights for different types of users (for owner, for group members, and for other users). When you log in to a UNIX server using ICE.NFS, you must provide an appropriate user name and password. If authentication is successful, you are granted the permissions of the user you log in as. Files that you are not allowed to access are either hidden or marked as read-only depending on what permissions they have.

While Logged in as Root, Some Files are Not Accessable

NFS protocol has special considerations regarding the root user. You will not be granted root permissions in any way when using NFS, and your actual login name will be automatically altered to "nobody" when attempting to use the root user. The root user has virtually no access.

Protecting Files from Being Access by Certain Users

ICE.NFS uses the same permissions that the user has in UNIX. To deny or allow access to certain file using ICE.NFS requires you to change the permissions for the user in UNIX.

The Permissions Settings in "Advanced" within ICE.NFS Hostname Wizard

These settings determine the permissions of files that the user creates using ICE.NFS. It does not affect access to files.

ICE.NFS Reads Files on the Server Quickly, but it Performs Slowly When Writing Files to the Server

Performance for writing files depends on the implementation of NFS on the UNIX server. Usually it performs synchronous writing (for reliability reasons), which can be up to 5 times slower then reading the same file from the server. Consult your system administrator about this. Modern UNIX systems allow you to perform asynchronous writing operations that are as fast as reading.

Performance Worsens When Working with Deep Directory Trees

Because of the nature of the implementation of the Windows file system drivers, you may experience a performance decrease when you browse multilevel directory trees. Try changing the location where you mount the driver to a point closer to the actual location of the files. Or create another mounted drive closer to file location.

Long Delays and Sometimes Error Messages Occur When Working Heavily with the UNIX Server

This may occur on a busy network because of extensive packet loss. Two basic suggestions are useful: dividing your network into a couple of segments can lower the load on each segment, or using a newer high-performance Ethernet card on both server and client computers also may help.

ICE.NFS Fails to Work Properly Without a Domain Name Service (DNS) Running on the Network

ICE.NFS will not work unless you have a proper DNS (static or dynamic) setup up and running. If you don t run a name server (named), make sure both the files on the workstations and /etc/hosts file on the UNIX server contain all the hostnames (of all the workstations and the server itself) and IP addresses that you use.

A Name Such as \\server\SHAREXX Sometimes Appears Instead of the Correct Name of a UNIX Directory

You may see those types of names when you connect anonymously to multicomponent and mixed-case UNIX directories (e.g., /user2/Very_long_Directory/with/multiple/parts). ICE.NFS creates temporary single and upper-case pathnames for these cases because the Windows multiprotocol router does not handle natural UNIX-style names correctly. In general, such name conversions should not create any problems.